Samuel had been buttoning up his shirt but now he paused. His son was shrewder than he was.
"You should talk to your mother. She's the CFO in our family."
"Dad, you're breaking our word," said Jane in fluent English. It startled everyone except Samuel.
They wondered what she had said so secretly.
Samuel smiled and waved a hand to Jane. "Come here, sweetie"
Samuel bobbed Jane up and down on his knee. "I'm talking to your brother. Here you are. This is yours."
With that, Samuel took out a red envelope. It was lighter than the other three.
Jane was satisfied. "Thank you, daddy." She kissed Samuel and said after a brief hesitation, "Daddy, I'm going to share a secret with you tonight."
Samuel raised his eyebrows. "Why tonight? You can't tell me now?"
She tilted her head to affect a thinking posture, and said, "Because people share secrets when it's dark." Ella had told her as much. Back in America, she couldn't spend much time with her daughter during the day. So when the day broke, Ella would unload all her news and strife.
That was why secrets were shared at night.
At the very beginning, Jane asked the same just as Samuel did and Ella made up an excuse to dodge.
"No problem," said Samuel. "Tonight it is." Samuel reached Jane's braid and patted it with joy.
Jerry pursed his lips and stared out at his father, eyes popping. "Dad! You're being stingy."
His father rolled his eyes, irritated. "Be a man and earn the money on your own."
"Don't be ridiculous!" said Viola. "How can he when he's so young? You want him to work in a labor camp, is that it?" To this, Samuel grumbled something before taking out another red envelope. He handed it to Jerry, who beamed with joy.
But, his face soured when he noticed how thin it was. It was worse than he thought. There couldn't be more than one piece of paper in it.
"Stingy..." murmured Jerry into his envelope.
Samuel scoffed with satisfaction.
Jerry headed upstairs hand-in-hand with his little sister while his father browsed the feed on his phone.
Ella had woken up by now, and posted on the film company website, "Happy New Year, everybody."
While Samuel was reposting her New Year blessing, the two cheery kids sprinted from the stairs and hailed, "Daddy, I love you."
"Daddy, you are my superhero."
They jumped like trapeze artists into his lap. Samuel's phone almost fell on the ground.
"What are you doing! Calm down!"
"What's the matter, Jerry? Jane?" inquired Melody, removing her thick glasses. She looked at the ecstatic kids in bewilderment.
Jane ran into Melody, who enfolded her in her arms. "Look Grandma! Dad just gave me and Jerry a check. Jerry has 666666 and I have 888888. Jerry said we can buy a big car with this money."
Having a dad had its benefits, she giggled to herself.
Dad was nothing like the bad guy in the TV, and she couldn't wait to tell Samuel her secret.
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